White iPad available immediately? We’ll know on Wednesday

The iPad revision that Apple is expected to introduce at Wednesday's event may …

We're just two days away from Apple's March 2 media event, which is widely expected to bring updates to the iPad. In typical pre-event fashion, leaks and rumors continue to make their way through the grapevine, leading some to believe that the next-gen iPad will not only be available in white, it may be available to customers almost immediately after the event.

iPhone repair shop iFixYouri (via 9to5 Mac) claims to have gotten its hands on an iPad part directly from Shenzen that hints the device will come in white, just like the white iPhone 4 that has yet to make an appearance. The part is the bezel (also known as the digitizer) that frames the display on the front of the device; the front appears to be painted white, while the back is black. The bezel also features a small hole at the top, which is believed to be for a front-facing camera that will be included in the next iPad.

AppleInsider also believes that the new tablet will be available to customers sooner than later. According to the site's sources, at least one version of the new iPad will be en route to Apple retail stores while it's being introduced to the press on Wednesday, contradicting previous reports that the device would not be available to the public until April.

The latest rumors come in addition to previous whispers about the next-gen iPad, which say that the device will get a CPU and GPU boost along with a new dual-mode Qualcomm chip. The new CPU is expected to be a dual-core Cortex A9-based design to replace the current single-core Cortex A8-based A4 processor used in the iPad and iPhone 4, and the new GPU is expected to be the latest PowerVR SGX core from Imagination Technologies.

There has also been some debate over whether the iPad that Apple plans to release this spring will have a higher-resolution display. We made a case in January that the device won't gain a "Retina" class display anytime this year, and the latest rumors have aligned with that expectation. Earlier this month, iFixYouri claimed to have gotten its hands on a display meant for the new iPad, which ended up being thinner and lighter than the current display but the same resolution as what's currently available.

There is another, quickly growing group of Apple watchers who believe that Apple will only roll out minimal changes to the iPad this Spring and hold off on a more significant update until later this year. If Apple does introduce a new iPad on Wednesday's event, it's possible that it will be a stopgap update, which would allow the company to get new hardware into stores without a complete makeover.